The trading that involves the use of pre-programmed computers to look for potential trades and post orders on behalf of a trader. Automated trading is a method of executing orders using automated trading instructions, subject to pre-defined variables such as time, price, and volume. It capitalizes on the speed and computational resources of computers relative to the limited capabilities of human traders. A trader or investor uses algos/ algorithms (a set of specific-purpose codes) for trade execution when certain conditions are met, as identified by a set of variables and parameters.

It is known as algorithm trading, robo trading, black-box trading, etc.